Welcome to the Women Entrepreneurs Radio™ 7th Anniversary After Party!

For most of the month of November we've been celebrating the 7th anniversary of Women Entrepreneurs Radio™. Now that we're at the end of the month there are several more guests I'd like to give a shout out to!

Mission of the Women Entrepreneurs Radio™ Show

Foster a supportive community of women entrepreneurs

Help women succeed in their entrepreneurial endeavors, providing valuable tips and resources from women who have been there

Promote women-owned businesses and support the economic empowerment of women

Here are some other wonderful guests who've joined me on the show over the past seven years!

Barbara Schechter of Barbara’s Cookie Pies – 2013

Another “Jersey girl” who happens to make the most delicious cookies and cookie pies I’ve ever tasted. I’ve been a customer of hers since I interviewed her.

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.

Because of the longstanding traditions of the holiday, the celebration often extends to the weekend that falls closest to the day it is celebrated.

Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. Historically, Thanksgiving had roots in religious and cultural tradition. Today, Thanksgiving is primarily celebrated as a secular holiday.-from Wikipedia

Women Entrepreneurs Radio™ 7th Anniversary party with Chris-Tia Donaldson Author & Founder of tgin - originally broadcast in November 2010

*Since this episode was broadcast, Chris-Tia's tgin ("Thank God It's Natural") hair care line was launched at Target stores, and is also available on Amazon.com and on the company's website.

Chris-Tia Donaldson is a Harvard graduate with a true passion for hair. By day, Chris-Tia is a successful lawyer for a software company. By night, she is a freelance writer and entrepreneur looking to launch her own natural lifestyle and wellness brand featuring an array of products from cosmetics to personal care items and household essentials.

Chris-Tia graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard College and earned her juris doctorate from Harvard Law School. At this juncture, she is balancing the full time demands of her job as a corporate lawyer at the world’s largest global software/database company with the daily rigors of running a start up in one of the toughest economies since the Great Depression.

Chris-Tia is an expert in a number of topics related to launching a start up, including but not limited to financing your business, creating and marketing your brand, leveraging social media to grow your customer base, gaining media coverage for your product/business, among many other topics. She can also address the operational aspects of being an entrepreneur (e.g. legal issues that can sink your start up, outperforming you competitors, keeping pace with technology, beta testing/1.0/2.0, goal-setting, prioritizing, dealing with limited resources, etc.)

As the founder and President of the Harvard Black Alumni Society (2002 – 2010), she is also an expert in issues related to starting and running a not for profit organization.

Ms. Donaldson has been featured in USA Today, Essence Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times, the Detroit News, the Boston Bay State Banner, as well as many other national publications for her views on black women, beauty standards in the workplace, health and self-esteem. She has also been featured as a commentator on ABCNews Chicago, WGN-9 Chicago News and Fox Chicago News.

*Since this episode was broadcast, A'Lelia published Madam Walker Theatre Center: An Indianapolis Treasure in 2013. For more information visit the Madame C.J. Walker page on Wikipedia.

Topic: The Legacy of Madame C.J. Walker

A'Lelia Bundles is president of the Madam Walker/A'Lelia Walker Family Archives and author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, the bestselling biography of her great-great-grandmother which was named a New York Times Notable Book.

After a 30-year career as an executive and Emmy award winning producer with NBC News and ABC News, she now devotes her time to writing books and serving on nonprofit boards.

An accomplished and engaging public speaker, she has delivered keynote addresses at dozens of events, book festivals and conferences including Harvard University, London City Hall, the National Archives and on all the major television and radio networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC, PBS and NPR. She currently is at work on the first comprehensive biography of her great-grandmother, A'Lelia Walker, whose Harlem Renaissance parties helped define that era.Photo by Michael Cunningham

Is authenticity more than a hot buzzword? Can being yourself really work in business?

Co-hosts Deborah Bailey and Kerry Heaps discuss the pros and cons.

Kerry Heaps is the Founder and President of Kerry's Network, Inc., a membership-based organization that provides exposure for business owners with access to the media and association directories. She's also the publisher of Strictly Marketing Magazine and the host of Strictly Marketing Talk Radio.
Kerry has an extensive background in Sales, Networking, Recruiting, and Training. Her marketing development book, Marketing Ideas that Make Sen$e covers networking, cold calling, establishing yourself as an expert, creating your own media, marketing ideas and sample scripts. http://www.strictlymarketingmagazine.com

*Since the show aired, Melissa has introduced an exciting PR and branding program for business owners, Obsessed and she's also writing screenplays! Check her out (and her new site) here: http://melissacassera.com/

Melissa Cassera is an award-winning PR Expert and President of Publicity Firm Cassera Communications. When it comes to turning business owners into celebrities, she’s the real McCoy. Melissa has 10+ years of experience as a PR strategist, marketing + communication virtuoso — and has led multi-million dollar campaigns for companies + start-ups in the US, Canada, the UK, Japan, and France.

From uncovering the latest pop culture trends for business success to prowling around E! Online for hours + hours for legitimate research, Melissa loves the challenge of blending business with passion (and guilty pleasure). Her advice has been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News as well as glossy magazines + web portals like Glamour Magazine, Redbook Magazine, AMEX Open and Forbes. http://casseracommunications.com/

Get your topic down to smaller pieces, and use those small bites to write your posts.

For instance, in my book I wanted to talk about using an entrepreneurial mindset to manage your career. So I took my original idea, and mind-mapped sub-topics. I could talk about having a success mindset, how to handle stress, how to be more creative, etc.

When I wrote my book, I decided to have 5 main headings, which lined up with my 5 steps for entrepreneurial thinking.

They were: creating a vision, trusting my intuition, using my creativity, making decisions and taking action.

After I was finished writing, each post could fit under one of those headings. Having an overall plan kept me organized.

3. Stay focused on your goal and on your deadline.

It will be easy to get distracted or get frustrated if you feel things are moving too slowly. Create a schedule for your posts, otherwise, it’ll be easy to go off on a tangent and write about things that have nothing to do with your book. Not to say you can’t write other posts, but keep the end result in mind.

Set up a schedule to blog daily or weekly. It’s up to you and your timeline. But you’ll want to have a certain number of pages when it’s all done, so be mindful of how much content you’ll need to have when it’s over.

(Writing fiction or a memoir? Your process will be different, but you still have to have some sort of structure or you’ll never get it done. Use mind mapping to set up your plot and/or chapters.)

The advantage of blogging your book is that you can build an audience as you’re writing. You can get feedback and interact with your readers as you go.

Deborah A. Bailey is a writer, coach, blogger and author of several non-fiction books, novels and a short story collection.
She's the creator and host of Women Entrepreneurs Radio™ , a weekly podcast. For more information about Deborah and her books visit her site: http://DeborahABailey.com.

On Clare's 26th birthday, July 7th, Premae Skincare was born - the world's first, critically acclaimed and highly anticipated pioneering Allergy-free face and body brand. Within 40 days of launching in December, the brand was nominated an award for the best free from face product for the Ezcema moisturiser, Clemensy Balm and has received recognition from Celebrity Health professionals and customers!

Clare has been nominated for 3 awards so far this year:

Educator of the year by Women 4Africa Awards, shortlisted - announced May 19th

40 under 40 Amazing Women, 'Eco' Category by Cosmopolitan Magazine

Red's Hot Women Awards, 'Pioneer' Category by Red Magazine

Clare is a pioneer and role model for disadvantaged youth, growing up in Islington Care system, Clare lost her father at the age of 9 to diabetes coma and her mother subsequently suffered with long-term bipolar. As a philanthropist and humanitarian whom believes in charity and giving back to global local disadvantaged communities.

Clare is also commissioned by global charity, Children in Need to work with inner city London youth to educate them on the science of beauty.

Clare has been recently appointed as Creative Director for Young Womens Day Foundation and Excellence Awards.

As part of Clare's career, Clare is writing two books, due for release late 2012 and is completing her Allergy practitioner diploma to open her mobile allergy clinics Clare Care's from 2013.

Natasha Davis is a baccalaureate prepared Registered Nurse certified in Emergency and Trauma nursing for over 12 years. She emerged as a Business & Marketing Strategist in 2007, with the launch of her 2nd company Visionary People, LLC a certified Woman Owned Small Business (ED-WOSB), DBE, WBE, MBE & LSBE-MSA. Natasha shifted her career focus, and pursued her Masters in Business & Marketing in the Fall of 2009.

Her specialty is taking Visions for Success, and Creatively Transforming them into Reality using Strategic Planning and Execution. As a member of the AMA, NAPW, CWW, NAWOSB, WAC, RCC and certified expert in email & social media marketing, she thrives on fixing problems and eliminating frustrations for businesses and their owners.

In 2009, Natasha, authored and published her first book “Get Grounded; Stay Grounded” as a way to help people find their purpose. Currently, she is working on the launch of her 2nd book “Unleash Your Millionaire Mindet”. By 2011, Natasha gained recognition as the Executive Professional & Entrepreneur of the Year and noted as one of the 40 under 40 Movers and Shakers in Business by Career Magazine. In 2011, she was also welcomed to The World Chamber of Commerce as the Director of Membership. In 2012, she entered her roles as New Business Ambassador for the Rockdale Chamber of Commerce and Chair of Marketing for the Atlanta World Affairs Council – Young Leaders.

On April 30th 2013, Natasha was selected for & presented with recognition as a “Woman of Outstanding Leadership in Business” by the International Women’s Leadership Association – Leadership Category. On February 14th, 2014, the company was awarded as by the USIEC with the “2013 Georgia Excellence Award in Marketing”

You can find Natasha pouring knowledge into the community worldwide while hosting her popular Radio Show, “Coaching For Success” and TV Show “A Day In The Life Of Business”.

This young woman is passionate about being productive and progressive; humbly earning the title “The Chief Visionary” in 2010, her commitment & passion is to work with people who are ready to shift into human beings of absolute success. Find full details about Natasha on .

Bonnie Harvey is the co-founder of Barefoot Cellars along with partner Michael Houlihan. She was Vice President and “The Original Foot” for 19 years. There she had a wide variety of duties, doing whatever was necessary to operate the business. While Michael’s role was “big picture visionary,” Bonnie translated his ideas into workable processes and displayed a genius for managing the millions of details that come with a start-up. She proved to possess a rare combination of creativity and business savvy that served Barefoot well.

In the early days of the brand, Bonnie was responsible for bottling oversight, supply inventory and label design—in fact, the famous footprint is actually hers! Later as Barefoot grew, she focused on overview and direction of the business, setting company goals, and attending to Board of Director matters. She managed all financial aspects of the business, oversaw legal relations and compliance, and edited countless press materials, presentations, official manuals and other documents.

Along with Michael, Bonnie donates professional time to non-profits to help them improve their image, increase donations and achieve financial sustainability. She also coauthors weekly business blogs at www.thebarefootspirit.com and www.thebrandauthority.net with him, and they consult together with several clients.

Bonnie has a passion for helping young entrepreneurs choose the right path. With her varied “hard-knocks” experience, she offers practical solutions for all aspects of starting a business. She loves showing others how to avoid painful and costly mistakes and directing them toward profitability.

Bonnie is the Co-author of The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand, a New York Times Bestselling Business Book. www.barefootwinefounders.com

Topic:"Secret Strategies Practiced by Successful Women That Ensure Their Success"Faith Saunders is a Life Coach, Trainer and founder of Discover a New Future. Her company's mission is to help women connect with their reason for BEING, DO what is important to them and brings them fulfillment and HAVE the life that they desire and truly deserve.

She has over 18 years experience working in various capacities – training, coaching, project development, etc. – with many groups, including women in recovery, teenage mothers, youths and adults with emotional challenges. She has a Master’s Degree in Psychiatric Rehabilitation from UMDNJ.

She was the recipient of Central Jersey National Association of Business Owners prestigious Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2009 and has been a contributing author to several publications, such as Stephanie Clark’s book: "Life As A Single Mom: It isn’t Easy, or Is It?" She's the proud mother of two adult children (her greatest accomplishment) and lives in Somerset, New Jersey.http://discoveranewfuture.com/

Offering complimentary “preview” teleseminars is how I initially got my business off the ground.

You might not guess this about me today, but back then, I was so nervous delivering my very first teleseminar, that I waited until the very last minute to promote it!

I had 5 people on the call and I learned a TON, which gave me the confidence to keep perfecting this profitable strategy.

Now, years later, we still rely on teleseminars (and webinars) to increase signups and make sales of our products, programs and workshops.

One of the ways coaches and other service professionals struggle is in striking the right balance between offering great content in a complimentary call…and over delivering.

And then of course, there there comes the moment in every preview call where it’s time to make your offer.

The few minutes you invest in learning how to make your offer with grace and ease can easily pay you back in more sales, new client opportunities and increased confidence.

Here are 5 tips I’m happy to share with you, that will help you make your offer with confidence, grace and ease, resulting in more sales and more clients.

Tip #1. Show, Don’t Tell

Do you tend to over deliver? That means you’re likely overwhelming your listeners with too information, which can prevent them from seeing why they would need to enroll in your program or to hire you.

In addition, over delivering is a form of compensating for feelings of “Am I good enough?”, which puts you in place of questioning your value, instead of standing in the truth of your value.

So here is what to do to solve this: Don’t try to teach all you know in a free preview call. Instead, brainstorm all of the different ways your listeners can apply your information to a variety of problems (think “situations” here) they likely find themselves in. This gives you a simple way to structure your content that also makes it easy for your listener to relate to how you can help them.

Tip #2. Don’t Get “Shaky Voice” During The Money Piece

If you’re at all nervous about the money piece of your offer, it will show up in an obvious change in your voice tone. My Stars Courageous Coaching® program member love it when I teach them that discussing your fees should be as natural and as simple as asking someone to “pass the salt.

How do you do that? Breathe…and practice…a lot! The more you say your fee (or your product price) the more natural it will sound. Remember, your fees are not a reflection of you but are a reflection of how much you value your work.

Tip #3. Melt-Away Any “Money Nerves”

Everyone has their own particular way of exhibiting “money nerves” when making an offer. Some women talk too much, speak too quickly or over compensate by justifying or over explaining.

If this is you, not to worry. By knowing how money nerves may try to take over you can easily put yourself back in control. One simple technique is to script your offer so that you’re not tempted to stray off course or ramble. And if your money nerves are to speak too quickly, then practice speaking slowly. What feels slow to you will probably sound just right to everyone else.

Tip #4. Ease Into Your Offer

Instead of making an abrupt transition from delivering content to making an offer, try mentioning what it is you’ll be offering early in your teleseminar. This technique works well because it feels very conversational and caring. You can make your full offer either in the middle of your call (followed up by the remainder of your content), or at the end (their are pro/cons of either timing).

Tip #5. Tell ‘Em Why

When making your offer, start by reminding listeners what the specific issues are that your product/program/service is going to help them solve. The more specific you are (think checklist here) the better off you’ll be.

And when describing what your offer includes, link each feature to a specific reason why they will WANT that feature. I like using this format when listing each feature of my program/product/service:

“You’re going to get (feature) so that you can (what this feature will help them solve or achieve).”

Remember That The Energy You Give Out Matters As Much As Your Words!

Having the right words is only half of the equation to making a successful offer. What also matters is letting your passion and love of what you do shine through.

Remember that you want to be as passionate about making the offer as you are about helping people!

Would you like to learn simple ways you can brand, package and price your services, quickly move away from 'dollars-for-hours work' and create more money, time, and freedom in you business? Check out my web site, http://www.KendallSummerHawk.com, for free articles, resources and to sign up for my free webinar "How to Make More Money in One Day (as much as $3,000 - $10,000) Than You Currently Do All Month Even If You Don't Have a Big List."

A mentor once said to me you know what people really value by looking at how they spend their time and their money. I agree.

Money is a whole other topic, but let’s delve into the time piece for a minute.

If you are constantly running late, running from one task to another, doing things you really don’t want to do because you can’t say no, procrastinating, trying to do it all yourself and not to mention not taking any time for yourself – there is one issue and one issue only going on beneath the surface.

When I say beneath the surface, I’m talking about the belief system that is dictating every singe decision you’re making.

The issue at hand is self-worth. Plain and simple. How you value yourself dictates how you make decisions around your time. Think about it – if someone has a healthy self-esteem, they are going to be okay with setting boundaries with others and saying no (with grace of course). They will also value themselves enough to take care of themselves properly and make time for the things they love to do.

They feel worthy and therefore aren’t tying to get someone else’s approval by busying themselves up with a to do list a mile long. I love how Brene Brown explains this – that most of people are brought-up to be valued by their accomplishments and therefore as adults feel their worthiness comes from this, and not who they are inside.

Take a deep look at how you feel about yourself. Do you feel comfortable speaking your truth and showing-up as who you really are? Do you feel confident in your own skin? Can you stand-up for yourself with love and grace? Can you control your emotions and not take things personally? If not, then start doing the deeper work about why you are so great and worthy of whatever it is your heart desires. We are all the same and have equal opportunity to love and create :-)

Start making a schedule that is reflective of your values, priorities and worthiness.

Finding new prospects for your business is similar to dating. At the first encounter there is a level of attraction that causes a person to want to get know more about the individual who has caught their attention. After learning more about this attention grabbing person, a decision is made as to whether or not it is even worth pursuing a deeper relationship.

Your prospective clients are looking for solutions to their problems. Are you making sure that you are presenting your solutions in a way that not only attracts them to your offerings, but also lets them know that you are the BEST option for them?

Here are 3 things that you can do right now to be more attractive to your prospects.1. Have a crystal-clear, super-defined picture of your target market and ideal client

It's impossible to attract the right kind of clients if you aren't exactly sure who your ideal client is. Get as specific as possible about your market and you'll find two great benefits:

You'll only work with clients you like working with.

Your ideal clients are more likely to say yes to working with you because you cater to their needs so well.

Remember, this is for the purpose of focusing your marketing efforts! It's not about leaving anyone out. Once you meet your goals with a specific target market, you can always expand your efforts to another group.

Once you identify your target market, you'll want to narrow that even further and identify who is your ideal client within that target market. Determine that person's demographic factors (like age, sex, marital status, etc.) as well as their psychographic profile. Psychographics deal more with the attitudes, values, lifestyles, and opinions of your ideal prospect. Psychographics give you a much deeper picture of what makes them tick.

Really take the time to brainstorm and list both the demographics and psychographics of your ideal client so you can speak directly to their needs in your marketing materials.

2. Stand out from the crowd
Objectively assess your business and consider what parts of it are unique. Then, position those elements at the front of your business.

This isn't about being vastly different from your colleagues and competitors. This is about being more YOU!

Tell your story. Share the experiences you've had that led you to offering your products and services.

Show them the results you've created with other clients who are facing the same challenges they are.

Let them see your personality, excitement and commitment to helping them be successful.

Potential clients are always looking for that special something about a business that sets it apart from others. Your prospects have their choice between you and your competitors. Show them that you're not the average business and why. You will be sure to win them over.

3. Stop trying to be all things to everyone

Contrary to what many small business owners believe, trying to provide everything to everyone is a really bad move.

You simply cannot focus your energies when you do that and your business is sure to suffer because of it. Get very specific about the kinds of products and services (aka solutions) you want to provide and market them. The result will likely be that prospects will consider you a specialist and that's always good.

Once you have your target market and unique positioning, this part becomes a whole lot easier.

Smart people who are on the dating scene already know what type of person they are attracted to. They have identified the qualities that are important to making a great match. They don't want to date just "anybody."

As a business owner, you will be more attractive to prospects if they understand that you are the best person who can help them to solve their problems. They will know that you are a perfect match because you are able to demonstrate that they need to look no further.

How so? Because of your focused marketing efforts, they recognize themselves as a person in your target market, they see how you stand out from the crowd of other service providers and they know that you are in business to serve people "just like them!"

Your Action Plan For The Week:

Look at your current list of clients. Which ones are you excited about working with?

Write down how you found those ideal clients. Are they in the same target market?

Based on your analysis, choose one specific target market where you will focus your marketing efforts.

Write down your story as to why and how you launched your business. Start using pieces of your story in your marketing.

Research 3 places where your target market is hanging out (online or offline), start showing up there and talk about the problems you solve.

Sydni Craig-Hart, The Smart Simple Marketing Coach, is founder of SmartSimpleMarketing.com. Known for her easy, strategic and results-focused approach to marketing, she also has the unique ability to find untapped profit centers in her client's businesses so they can create money NOW. Visit www.SmartSimpleMarketing.com for your FREE training course, "5 Simple Steps to More Clients, More Visibility and More Freedom" and apply for a FREE "Profit Breakthrough" session with Sydni!